


Immortal Soulmates

by sleepy_goddess



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Female My Unit | Byleth, Not Beta Read, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Spoilers, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:26:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29575317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy_goddess/pseuds/sleepy_goddess
Summary: Flayn hasn't had a soulmark for years, so she assumed she hadn't had one.That was until, a flowery printed appeared on her right arm one day.
Relationships: Flayn & Seteth (Fire Emblem), Flayn/Ignatz Victor, Seteth/Seteth's Wife (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Immortal Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [my heart on my sleeve (and your name on my wrist)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450837) by [meevees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meevees/pseuds/meevees). 



> Because I am too lazy to look up a bunch of archaic terms, everything Flayn will say will modern-ish. I don't want to scroll through her dialogue to see what terms she uses. I don't wanna hate myself.

"Father, why don't I have a soulmate mark?"

Cichol directed his attention from fishing to his daughter. Cethleann stopped staring at her fishing line and stared intently at her father, emerald eyes filled with so many questions she wanted to ask, Cichol wasn't sure if could answer all of them.

"Well, Cethleann." he explained. "As you know, Children of the Goddess have longer life spans than humans. Perhaps Sothis has given you a human soulmate, and is not born yet." His daughter pouted slightly at his response. "Well, how long am I gonna have to wait for them?"

"Only the goddess knows, my dearest daughter. I happened to get lucky with your mother. Be patient, Cethleann. "

"Ok father." And that type of conversation was not spoken again until over a thousand years past.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flayn awoke one morning in Garreg Mach Monastery to see some broad handwriting on her forearm.

"Fa-Brother! Brother! Look look!" she exclaimed. She never thought she would get her soulmate mark at the monastery, especially centuries of waiting with nothing to show. Perhaps her grandmother was waiting for her to be in it! 

"Hm? What is it Flayn?" Seteth inquired.

"I have my soulmate mark! It's on my right forearm!" Flayn rolled up her sleeve to show her point.

Given that this was his daughter, aka, the same girl who wrote on her arm with ink to pass off a soulmate mark, Seteth didn't believe her until he saw her right forearm.

It was indeed a soulmate mark.

Which meant Flayn's human soulmate just got of age to receive one.

Which meant Seteth has just turned into Overprotective Dad mode again to protect his dearest daughter.

"Brother? Why do you look spaced out?" 

Hearing the question snapped him back into reality. No matter how adjusted their latest roles are to hide Flayn from captors, he may never get used to his daughter calling him 'brother'.

"Apologies, Flayn. You must be quite excited to meet your soulmate when they get to the monastery."

"How do you know my soulmate will be here?"

"Most nobles will go to the monastery to learn how to govern their lands. And many commoners might ship their second or third eldest kids to become a knight."

"Ah, I see. I will wait for that day and greet my soulmate with a welcome cherish!"

Picturing the idea of Flayn hugging any random boy she thinks is her soulmate is enough to send Seteth's nerves spiraling. And of course, being a father, he wants nothing more than to keep his precious girl alive. The only remnant of her mother besides whatever cursed Relic Nemesis and his '10 Elites' turned his wife into. 

"Flayn, I am not sure it's a good idea." Seteth warned.

"Hm? Why is that?" Flayn inquired.

"Remember that Flayn is your cover. It will not be the name that appeared on your soulmate's arm. The name will be Cethleann."

Flayn's face expressed sorrow. "Ah, it would be weird if a random girl just hugs somebody and claims to be their soulmate without proof."

"Yes. And remember why we hide in the first place? I do not want vile criminals to steal your blood. If they found out you have a soulmate..."

Flayn frowned even more as she finished his sentence. "...then my soulmate would be targeted, where they are not so well protected."

Seteth nodded. "Just for safety, do not reveal to anybody about your soulmate, okay sister?" 

She nodded solemnly. "Yes brother, I understand. But before I cover my mark completely, can you tell me what it says? Just in case if I have to avoid them. The handwriting is illegible to me." She held out her arm again. 

Seteth tenderly grabbed Flayn's arm from the bottom and squinted. "I believe it says, 'Ignatz'," he concluded.

His daughter pulled away from her arm again and bowed. "Thank you, brother. I will be on my way now." She turned and glided out of his chambers.

Seteth gave a small frown. It upset him to see her so upset, but this was for her safety. Who knows what dangers would happen to her if she told about her soulmate?

He got up from his desk and left his chambers, closing the doors. He'll need to report to Seiros, now Rhea, soon.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ignatz Victor stood before the grounds of Garreg Mach Monastery. He was already beginning to have second thoughts. Will he become a knight here? He got his parents' blessing, sure, but something still tells him he's not ready yet somehow. Maybe it's just nervousness, lots of people get nervous on their first day, right? Taking a deep breath, he started hiking up the hill that held his new school.

After climbing the mile-high mountain, (without a horse might he adds), he stumbled into his homeroom and collapsed on a desk sitting in a chair. He wasn't worried about not getting the homeroom right and suffering embarrassment forever, practically everyone in Fodlan knew students were sorted by their nationality, and the Leicester Alliance were the Golden Deer.

So he just stumbled into the room that had yellow banners in front and temporarily died for a minute so he could catch his breath.

"Hey, Ignatz!"

Oh no. Not him. Ignatz dreaded to look behind him. He didn't need to.

Sure enough, Ignatz's old childhood friend Raphael, stood proud in front of him. His shirt practically bursting at the seams. Raphael wasn't a bad childhood friend, not in the slightest, but Ignatz believed it was his fault he turned into an orphan. After all, Raphael's parents were sent on a death mission his parents couldn't go on.

But he isn't one to ignore a greeting, so Ignatz quietly said, "Mornin' Raphael..."

"What's with you? You look like you're about to die!" he exclaimed.

"I'm just...really...tired, the climb was...very exhausting..."

"Alright then! I'm off to the dining hall! Later Ignatz!" And with that, Raphael sprinted out of the homeroom, yelling about he'll get Ignatz some food.

Ignatz hopes the rest of the year is normal.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the year was indeed normal.

And it also wasn't at the same time.

Bandits, subduing a church rebellion, a mysterious group breaking into the Holy Mausoleum, Ignatz was very tempted to join either of the two remaining houses, considering that the Blue Lions and the Black Eagles seemed to get a lot more tamer missions. But he really could never stray away from the Golden Deer, so many friends were in it after all.

But the scariest thing that happened, to him, was when Flayn was kidnapped. She and Ignatz weren't exactly friends, that would impossible due to the looming threat of her brother saying that he'll crush any boy that goes near her. But, despite all of that, he still somehow managed to get a crush on her. The way she speaks, the way handles things, the way her eyes light up about fish of all things, Ignatz found it all mesmerizing. Strangely enough, his soulmate mark kept buzzing against his skin whenever he got close, he never really understood why. He didn't understand anything about it at all? Why was the name on his left forearm Cethleann, for instance? The saints were dead for more than a thousand years now, and would a parent actually name their child after one of them? And why does it buzz whenever Flayn was even a tiny bit close to him? So many questions, so few answers. He often threw a prayer to the goddess to know all these answers, and, ever so rarely, threw out a prayer so he could be a little close to Flayn without Seteth bashing his skull in.

Imagine his surprise when the goddess answered the latter one when Flayn transferred into the Golden Deer after her kidnapping.

And Flayn was here, sitting a lot closer to him, even asking him for an extra quill sometimes.

And somehow, his soulmate mark was buzzing even more now that Flayn attended class with him.

Before all of this, Ignatz would often hide somewhere to paint.

Nowadays, whenever he could, he'd silently scream into his pillow, on his bed, in his dorm room.

'Is the goddess cursing or blessing me?' was a question that often circled in his head.

Despite his crush slowly disabling his functions to act like a human being in front of her one by one, he and Flayn still managed to close still. Honestly, it was amazing how much of an expert she was on Saint Cethleann. Every day, thanks to her guidance, he got closer and closer to having a portrait of what she looked like alive.

Flayn was an excellent healer during the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion. Not as strong as Marianne, he concludes, but enough to be at least a good of a healer for a regular battle. She was great with the lance too, almost effortlessly 'killing' their 'opponents' on the battlefield. He managed to see her grace from the ballista, although not for long as he turned away to avoid the wrath of an angry brother (and he knows all too well how dangerous they are in rage)

And then, the White Heron Cup was approaching. Professor Byleth chose Flayn to represent the Golden Deer. Naturally, everybody in his homeroom went to go cheer for her. As for Ignatz, he just tried his best not to stare. He couldn't help himself though, what if he asked her to dance, just the two of them gliding across the ballroom floor, not a care in the world.

And he immediately tried to stop thinking about that when he saw Seteth burning holes into his professor's head with his glare, since he wasn't exactly happy his sister was dancing in front of hundreds.

He didn't have a death wish after all.

The ball breezed by, he actually managed to get a dance with Flayn and didn't get beheaded for his crime, and he somehow managed to catch a glimpse of Professor Byleth and his house leader, Claude, dancing away in the courtyard. Ignatz did want to ask Flayn to meet him at the Goddess Tower, but considering that Flayn was still swamped with people eager to dance with the White Heron Cup Champion, and the fact that Seteth would spear him before he could try, he just decided to try next year if she was still at the monastery. Or maybe he can wait for five, they did promise to meet at the millennium festival five years from now. He's patient enough.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He wasn't waiting for Captain Jeralt to die.

The 2 weeks after the ball were sorrowful. Everybody was mourning the loss of the best knight Garreg Mach Monastery had. Leonie was mourning just as hard as Professor Byleth, Lorenz stopped prattling on about nobility in an attempt to comfort either of them, and even Bernadetta came out of her room to put flowers on Jeralt's grave. Everybody (mostly) was grieving in some way. Then suddenly Ignatz's class was on a mission to help his Professor get revenge. Byleth was mercilessly cutting down everything in sight, Marianne wanted to be on constant standby to heal her while Mercedes and Flayn healed the rest. Monica-no, Kronya was taunting Professor Byleth with no remorse, fueling her anger even more. Once the impostor saw she was losing, the coward tried to make a break for it.

Then Solon showed up, ripped out her heart, and enveloped him and the professor in a dark cloud. It disappeared after a while, and Professor Byleth was nowhere to be seen.

No, there's no way, his professor wouldn't die just like that. Right? There was just no way. Everybody believed his sentiment as well. 

Then, cut appeared in the sky, and the glorious return of Professor Byleth awed all of them. 

The battle ended quickly after that, and Hilda had to carry the unconscious professor home, who instantly shoved her to Raphael, just so she didn't have to work. She may care for the professor, but she still won't do any work at all.

The weeks breezed by after that. Then Rhea said Byleth had to go to the Holy Tomb, something he didn't even know existed, to receive a revelation from the goddess Sothis herself. Despite them not being knights, the archbishop said it was alright to see it. Then the Flame Emperor showed up in the Holy Tomb to steal the Crest Stones, and Rhea commanded them to protect all of them.

The Flame Emperor was then unmasked, and the face of Edelgard was found underneath. She escaped before she could've been killed. Rhea was furious at her defiance. War was called upon the monastery, and everybody who could fight had to prep up. 

And then Professor Byleth went missing. Claude was distraught, looking all over for her until everybody said to just give up for a while. Flayn and Seteth disappeared too.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The five years passed by after that. He was making his way up the rubble that came from the monastery into another broken part. Claude and the professor were seen fighting bandits. The professor was alive. Byleth was alive. He couldn't be happier.

He found himself proven wrong when Flayn showed up again.

Strangely enough, she didn't look much different from what she looked like five years ago. 

Even more strangely, his soulmate mark was buzzing against his skin even harder.

Naturally, although 5 and a half years late, he goes to Professor Byleth to see if she knows anything about it.

"Hm? What's up Ignatz?" Byleth set down the boulder she was carrying down from the rubble of the cathedral. 

"Oh, I just had a question." he replied.

"I'm not a teacher anymore, but I'll still help," she joked.

Ignatz beamed a little and rolled up his left sleeve to show his former professor his mark.

Her eyes widened a little, "That's an odd soulmate mark."

"I'm aware Professor. So, my question is why does my mark keep buzzing whenever I'm near Flayn?"

The former professor thought a little, in the end, she simply said, "I don't think it's my place to say. Just confront Flayn."

Ignatz tilted his head in confusion and tried to chuckle, "Will Seteth even allow me?"

"I can bet." And with that, Byleth walked off to go remove some more rubble.

How odd.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After many, many failed attempts, Ignatz managed to find Flayn.

Of course, he got distracted by her wanting to be even more illustrious and fierce than Saint Cethleann. How he would be able to manage that, he had no idea.

But, back to his matter at hand.

"Hey, Flayn? Can I ask you a question?" he inquired.

"You may proceed." she answered.

"Um, I think it'll be better if I show you." He rolled up his left arm to show his mark. Flayn's eyes widened. "Oh my! That is quite an odd soul mark."

"Uh, yeah. If you don't mind, would you feel it for a bit?" he prayed that he said that in the least creepy way possible, he'd like to stay alive, thank you.

Flayn seemed to halt at that. "I do not I think I should."

"Why?"

"It is for reasons I must keep secret to myself." she pursed her lips, her left hand clutching her right forearm for some reason. The buzzing of his mark went even faster. He did his best to ignore to question the girl. "Um, can I ask why?"

Flayn clutched her right forearm even tighter. "I...do not I could."

Ignatz's mark buzzed to the point where he couldn't focus on anything but the buzzing. He knelt, clutching his left forearm, it felt like his entire left arm was in pain. 

"Ignatz!" Flayn cried, kneeling beside him. "Are you alright?" The aforementioned boy couldn't answer. Somehow, believed that touching Flayn's right forearm with his mark would stop the pain. Now normally, he would have second thoughts about this, but he just wanted the pain to go away.

He grabbed Flayn's right forearm and place it against his soulmate mark. The buzzing stopped. Both of them were extremely shocked. And embarrassed. More of that than the previous one. Ignatz immediately blushed and started spouting an endless river of apologies while Flayn spaced out trying to process what in Sothis' name just happened. She got back to reality and touched him with her right hand.

"Um, Ignatz?" she quietly asked, not daring to look up at his eyes.

He looked up at the call of his name, his face still completely red.

"Uh, I believe I must show you something now." she timidly looked away and rolled up her right sleeve, her mark now visible to the world she tried so hard to hide. The painter's eyes widened at it. "Wait, then that means..."

Flayn stood up and brushed dust off her skirt and bowed, "Yes, my name is not Flayn. I am truly Saint Cethleann."

Ignatz stood and stared at her trying to process what he just heard. "But-I...you-Cethleann...then Cichol...."

"D-do not about that stuff right now," Flayn stammered. "For now, we must decide exactly..what we are now..."

Awkward silence passed over the two before Ignatz managed to say, "Well, I guess we're boyfriend and girlfriend now?..."

Flayn gave a tiny nod. "Y-yeah, I believe we are now."

The two joined hands and prayed to the goddess they wouldn't do anything stupid toward each other.

"Why do I feel like somebody is staring at us?"

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Seteth was burning holes into Ignatz with his glare. Yes, he is glad his daughter is finally happy, but as all fathers are, he never wants any brute to hurt her, even if he is her soulmate.

"Seteth, give it a rest." Byleth stood behind him and gave a glare of her own. He looked back to glare at her.

"Surely you cannot fathom me not worrying about Flayn's safety now are you?" he hardened his glare.

Byleth shook her head, "I know Flayn is your daughter, but I believe that Ignatz will take care of her. Mark my words."

Seteth didn't believe that in the slightest, but he had to make do. Since then, he's had to restrain every urge to strangle the poor boy for holding Flayn's hand, and other such activities.

There were a lot too. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Years later after the war, Flayn and Ignatz got happily married, and through a narrowly fatal battle, Ignatz was now immortal because Flayn gave him her blood to survive. The tale of Ignatz and Flayn were told by many of their classmates, (with no knowledge of her true identity of course), to eager writers hoping for a good romance story. The several copies that got through to modern Fodlan are widely loved centuries later.

And through all these years, people have said that they sometimes see a couple just like the one they heard through the books walking around the streets on different eras. Some have persisted to say that somehow, Ignatz and Flayn are and will be together until the world fades, as if they were both immortal. Soulmates truly are a powerful thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure whether to call Seteth and Flayn's race as either the Nabataeans, (because I believe that's what Rhea says they are in Crimson Flower, I don't know, I haven't played it.) or Children of the Goddess (also called that by Rhea). I went for the Children of the Goddess in the end.
> 
> Also, I know Flayn is like, one of those prepubescent anime girls that look 15 but are like 8,000 years old...BUT SHUT UP SHE AND IGNATZ ARE CUTE TOGETHER.
> 
> Also also, Flayn might be considered young in Nabataean terms, given their longer lifespan. I don't know. I haven't studied immortality yet.
> 
> And separate from that whole thing, I need to explain how the soulmate marks work. See, a mark is branded on you when you're like-8 or 9, and it buzzes every time your soulmate is near. Basically, the marks work like magnets, the closer they are, the more they will buzz. If the marks touch, the buzzing will stop. That means if I want to use this type of soulmate thing again, I can have two characters who never made their soulmate marks touch as a way of always finding each other. (You can use it too, I won't judge.)


End file.
